Brainiacs Take Detroit
by moonswirl
Summary: Gleekathon, day six hundred and sixty-eight: With their tickets paid, room reserve, the Brainiacs are on their way to Detroit!  Brittany/Artie, Tina/Mike


_Started my daily ficlets to make the hiatus pass, then decided to keep going with a 2nd cycle, and then a 3rd, 4th, etc through 31st cycle. Now cycle 32!_

* * *

><p><strong>Hear that little bird twitter!<strong> _Been thinking about doing this for a couple days, then this morning decided to just go for it. If you go there, find 'gleekathon' and there I'll be. There's also a video explaining everything... Yep... ;) Check it out!_

* * *

><p><strong>"Brainiacs Take Detroit"<br>Brittany, Tina, Artie, Mike, B/A, M/T, Mr. Abrams **

They were actually going… It hadn't sunk in just yet, not until the morning they were on their way. They had convinced Mr. Abrams to act as their chaperone, knowing he would be the most… relaxed. So that morning they drove to pick up the others, with Mrs. Abrams there to drive the car back from the bus terminal. They got Mike first – once his parents let go of him – then Tina, who didn't look awake just yet. Anticipating this, Artie and Mike had agreed it might be best to pick her up a coffee on the way. They planted the cup in her hand once she sat at Mike's side, and by the time they got to Brittany's house she was finally starting to acknowledge them, and that was to glare at the boys who hollered cheerfully for the former Cheerio to join them. She came running, sitting next to Tina and behind Artie. She joined in on the cheering, and Tina got back to her coffee.

She had started coming to life as they unloaded from the car, in time to catch Mrs. Abrams saying her goodbyes to Artie. She knew, perhaps more than Mike or Brittany, how much the accident and its aftermath still colored the way they interacted. Eventually they did have to let go, so that Artie could be taken aboard the bus. The four of them took out a row, with Artie and Brittany on one side and Mike and Tina on the other, while Mr. Abrams sat one row ahead of his son. Finally it was official: the Brainiacs were on their way to Detroit.

The bus was very nearly empty at first. There were the five of them at the back, and only about as many of them were at the front, which created a pocket big enough that for the first part of their journey, while Mr. Abrams did crossword puzzles, the four of them could turn to their 'Gleeful' habits and sing songs to both keep waking Tina up and just channel the energy and excitement.

Once more passengers came along, they decided to switch things up and quiz each other. Their arm rests became their buzzers, which they smacked in order to 'ring in.' This was after the back of the seats became unusable, as Mr. Abrams and another passenger started to complain.

They stopped after a while. Mike and Tina took in the scenery as they rolled along, while Artie ended up falling asleep, after Brittany had dozed off herself, with her head on his shoulder. When he woke up, she was shaking his shoulder and he saw they had arrived.

They headed to their hotel to settle in. The boys shared their room with Mr. Abrams, while the girls had a room across the hall. The plan was that the boys would join them as soon as Mr. Abrams had gone to bed, being well aware of how serious he took his role as a chaperone… which they only discovered once they got to the hotel. But then apparently he was in no way tired or ready to go to bed. Mike and Artie exchanged looks, as they pretended to watch television with Mr. Abrams; this was not going to be easy… especially as the girls kept on texting them. They couldn't even consider having them come over to this room, or it would have never ended. They could only hope to slip away from their steadfast chaperone.

Across the hall, Tina and Brittany had made a strategic raid through the mini bar, knowing anything they took they'd need to pay themselves. They also knew they couldn't touch the alcohol or they'd get in trouble with more than Artie's dad. But alcohol or not, the longer they had to wait for the boys, the more their stack shrunk. They alternated trying to get the boys to come, texting them… As the current and former girlfriends of Artie Abrams, they knew what they were up against; just because he was 'the most relaxed,' it was still when put up against all other options.

It had been Brittany's idea to up the ante by attempting to lure them out with the messages, enticing them. The further they went, the more they could tell the boys must have been close to cracking, across the hall… and they were bursting out laughing so much that Tina nearly rolled off the bed until Brittany caught her. With the length of the day they'd had, and what was in store for them the next day, eventually they had to just call it quits and head to bed, knowing across the hall the boys would be left to quietly turn in, too.

What they found out later on was that somewhere between getting shut out and turning in, they had decided the girls had to meet a bit of payback. They weren't going to do anything right then and there, for fear of messing up this trip they had struggled so much just to get to come, and they weren't going to screw it up, for themselves or for the girls. But they would get them back… No doubt.

The next morning, Brittany played 'coffee up' with Tina, sitting at the foot of her bed and letting the smell from the cup get to her. She'd just managed to get to her. She'd just managed to get her to sit up and take it when the boys came knocking. Brittany let them in and was informed they were heading out to breakfast. So they got dressed, and they were on their way.

Breakfast was filled with a sense of both excitement and dread… It was almost time to go and compete… They really wanted to win this one. It was their thing, they'd seen it this far and they weren't going to go halfway. As long as they kept that in mind, then they couldn't lose… So before long their breakfast mood lifted back up: they were ready.

The whole thing, not unlike their competitions with Glee Club, and Cheerios, and football, came and went in a rush more than a blur. They were focused, in the moment, and then all of a sudden victory was in front of them.

They got to celebrate this win, just the four of them and Mr. Abrams, with some sightseeing around Detroit before they had to go pack up and take the bus back to Lima. By the time they were once again in their row of seats, they were anxious to be back home, so they could show what they'd done to the people they cared about, their family and friends.

But still they ended their journey the way they began, in song and giddiness. Brittany suggested they needed some kind of theme song… For the Brainiacs and the Brainiacs alone.

THE END

* * *

><p><strong>PICK A NAME! - ROUND TWO<br>**_New character currently in development, and I'm being indecisive, so I'm putting it to all of you lovely people!  
>Please send via message if you can, the name you like best... [Once you've voted in round two, you can't change it ;)]<em>

_After the bottom three were eliminated, we get this! So you have a new vote!_

Brendan  
>Ewan<br>Neal  
>Rory<p>

_Thank you! :)_

* * *

><p><strong>AN: This is a one-shot ficlet, which means that signing up for story alert will not bring you any alerts.  
><strong>**In the event of a sequel, the story will be separate from this one. And as chapter stories go, they are  
><strong>******always clearly indicated as such [ex: "Days 204-210" in the summary] Thank you!******


End file.
